Which shaft should I have in my Driver?

[Meady]

I'm not a great golfer and I struggle to get height on my drives so I may be investing in a new driver. My irons are Taylormades with stiff shafts. I have recently invested (under club pro advisement) in a Superfast Burner 5 wood with a stiff shaft. However, I am now considering getting the driver to match. I think I want the 13 degree because I need the loft but will I need a stiff shaft on this too? I'm not sure how the mechanics work at this end and I very much doubt that I will find a store with the 13 deg in both a stiff and a regular for me to try.

 

[bobmac]

How far do you hit a normal 7 iron?

 

[Meady]

150 to 160 yards.

 

[DingleBerry]

not far then!!

 

[Meady]

Is that a long way? I wouldn't have a clue!

 

[Ethan]

Two ways to answer this:

Quick way is to say that a carry of 155 yards with a 7 iron is pretty good and likely suits a stiff shafted iron, and certainly a stiff shafted wood in something like a Superfast in which the standard shaft is not terribly stiff anyway.

Better answer is to advise going to get fitted because swing speed is not the only factor, weight of shaft, feel, launch angle and tempo are others. Also shaft flex varies between brands quite a lot.

 

[RGDave]

I'm watching this thread with interest.

The thing which normaly stops a player from getting the ball up and away with a low lofted driver is lack of clubhead speed and/or poor technique.

If you hitting the ball a decent distance with your 7 iron (which you are), then you are either generating good clubhead speed or de-lofting the club considerably.

I know players with good clubhead speed (which is good) that use stiff shafts and still get the ball way up in the air with 9 or 10 degree drivers without any trouble.

In my humble opinion, you need to look at your swing and technique properly before buying such a high lofted driver. Better to spend money or a lesson and find out what is going on. Generally, 12 degrees + is the answer to maximise distance (carry) for low clubhead speed players, like myself. Dare I say, you need to open up the worm can rather than mess with clubs.

 

[Meady]

That's interesting to hear. Like I say, I'm not great so it's all new to me. I go to a roll up session each week with a really good pro. Interestingly, he had a good look at my 10 deg benross and compared it to his own 9.5 deg titleist. Just looking at the head showed that the titleist had more loft. That said, I want to be confident over my driver and the technique he's teaching me still just results in me chucking it straight into the ground. It makes a nice noise, goes straight and I get rolling distance but no height. Obviously, I want to get fitted properly and try out all possibilities but I've contacted my local superstores and they have the 13 deg in but only with a reg shaft. They would have to order it with stiff so I wouldn't be able to try it out first. To be honest, I don't really mind if my drives lose length because they fly too high. At my stage (close to, but unable to break 100) I want to be confident and have something above a 5 wood off the tee.

 

[RGDave]

Obviously, I want to get fitted properly and try out all possibilities but I've contacted my local superstores and they have the 13 deg in but only with a reg shaft. They would have to order it with stiff so I wouldn't be able to try it out first.

Here's the conundrum as I see it. Someone "needing" a stiff shaft would/should be capable of playing with less loft than 13 degrees. If I passed over my 13 degree driver to my mates, it would balloon high in the sky, come down with snow on and generally be pointless.
Low clubhead speed suggests playing with high loft.
High clubhead speed the opposite.
Whilst there is some give and take with the loft of the driver for the individual I just can't believe a player with good clubhead speed would need 13 degrees.

Even if such a thing exists....consider this scenario

you buy a 13 HT/HL driver and get the height. In a while, as your swing settles and your technique gets better, you'll start hitting it very high and need to get a lower lofted driver. You can't win playing this tactic.

I think you need to look at your swing/set-up/technique FIRST.

 

[Meady]

This sounds like good advice. Strangely enough, I thought I'd check out that DVD we got free with the mag a few months ago. I hadn't had time to check it out. What a great freebie. Well, I'm off to the range tonight and I'm convinced that the reverse pivot is my problem. I feel like all my weight is on my left side. Hoping this is the issue. Interestingly, I could hit my driver high and long a few months back, but they flew violently right. After making my grip more neutral (and vastly improving my game) I now hit them straight but into the floor.

 

[viscount17]

I'm watching this thread with interest.

The thing which normally stops a player from getting the ball up and away with a low lofted driver is lack of clubhead speed and/or poor technique.

If you hitting the ball a decent distance with your 7 iron (which you are), then you are either generating good clubhead speed or de-lofting the club considerably.

I know players with good clubhead speed (which is good) that use stiff shafts and still get the ball way up in the air with 9 or 10 degree drivers without any trouble.

In my humble opinion, you need to look at your swing and technique properly before buying such a high lofted driver. Better to spend money or a lesson and find out what is going on. Generally, 12 degrees + is the answer to maximise distance (carry) for low clubhead speed players, like myself. Dare I say, you need to open up the worm can rather than mess with clubs.

have you been watching me Dave? I had an 11.5* regular r7 draw and, according to an AG launch monitor, was getting a 9.5* launch angle. their solution - it's the shaft - get a low-kick r9 reg at £229. The pro at DG had a different solution - there's nothing wrong with the shaft - it's you!

seriously de-lofting to the point where my left shoulder was at times lower than my right.

 

[Ethan]

have you been watching me Dave? I had an 11.5* regular r7 draw and, according to an AG launch monitor, was getting a 9.5* launch angle. their solution - it's the shaft - get a low-kick r9 reg at £229. The pro at DG had a different solution - there's nothing wrong with the shaft - it's you!

seriously de-lofting to the point where my left shoulder was at times lower than my right.

It's you. Get a lesson on driving, ball position, right shoulder down, swinging up a bit etc.

The R7 draw Reg is low kick (i.e high launch).

<u>Nobody</u> should buy clubs based on an AG fitting. These guys just want to sell something from stock. I played with a guy who was as strong as a bull and mashed the ball. He used Rifle 6.5 (X flex) irons. Some muppet at AG fitted him for an A flex (softer than R) hybrid, and the shaft was a model that was weak to start with. The guy wondered why he hit high hooks all day. I told him to go back and wrap it round the neck of the muppet.

 

[Oddsocks]

interesting thread indeed, was using the G2 8.5* with adilla stiff shaft, and hit that higher than my 09 TM burner in stiff with 9.5*

crazy stuff this golf.

 

[Ethan]

interesting thread indeed, was using the G2 8.5* with adilla stiff shaft, and hit that higher than my 09 TM burner in stiff with 9.5*

crazy stuff this golf.

Some brands of clubs are often not true to loft. I have heard Pings mentioned as being a noted example, where the actual loft is a degree or two higher then the loft marked on it.

 

[RGDave]

interesting thread indeed, was using the G2 8.5* with adilla stiff shaft, and hit that higher than my 09 TM burner in stiff with 9.5*

crazy stuff this golf.

Some brands of clubs are often not true to loft. I have heard Pings mentioned as being a noted example, where the actual loft is a degree or two higher then the loft marked on it.

So true. I wonder why the expression "dynamic loft" has not reared it's head into the thread.

The point is (if I may make a mess of it!?) the number of degrees on the club, the real loft of the face and the dynamic loft are all/can all be different.

In the case of a player getting no height at all, chances are the swing is the first place to look, not the pro shop!

 

[Ethan]

interesting thread indeed, was using the G2 8.5* with adilla stiff shaft, and hit that higher than my 09 TM burner in stiff with 9.5*

crazy stuff this golf.

Some brands of clubs are often not true to loft. I have heard Pings mentioned as being a noted example, where the actual loft is a degree or two higher then the loft marked on it.

So true. I wonder why the expression "dynamic loft" has not reared it's head into the thread.

The point is (if I may make a mess of it!?) the number of degrees on the club, the real loft of the face and the dynamic loft are all/can all be different.

In the case of a player getting no height at all, chances are the swing is the first place to look, not the pro shop!

No, you are right. The dynamic loft is a function of various aspects of the design and shaft, but some clubs say 9.5 degrees simply because the averge American player wouldn't be seen with anything less, even if it is really 11 degrees.